‘We Cannot Take Care of These Inmates’: Victorville Prison Struggles to Handle Hundreds of Immigrant Detainees

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One of the two medium-security facilities at the Victorville Federal Correctional Complex is shown in an undated image from the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.

‘We Cannot Take Care of These Inmates’: Victorville Prison Struggles to Handle Hundreds of Immigrant Detainees

One of the two medium-security facilities at the Victorville Federal Correctional Complex is shown in an undated image from the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.

Immigration detainees who were sent to a federal prison in Victorville last month were kept in their cells for prolonged periods with little access to the outside and were unable to change their clothing for weeks, according to workers at the facility and visitors who have spoken with detainees.

Staffers at the prison also say they have not been given the proper resources or direction to handle the influx of detainees, putting both inmates and workers in danger.

“We’re putting out fires, just like we were doing before,” said a worker who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation. “But it’s gone from bad to worse to worst. We cannot take care of these inmates.”

The Victorville Federal Correctional Complex is a sprawling federal prison in San Bernardino County that houses thousands of inmates who have been convicted of crimes in federal courts.